Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP)

Giving both pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and antiretroviral therapy (ART) to heterosexual couples where one partner has HIV (serodiscordant couples) can almost eliminate the chance of infection of the HIV negative partner, a study presented at the 2015 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) last week in Seattle has shown.

Among the most eagerly anticipated and well received news at the 2015 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections(CROI) last week in Seattle were a pair of reports showing that Truvada (tenofovir/emtricitabine) pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, taken either daily or before and after sex, reduced the likelihood of HIV infection by 86%. In both studies, no one who took PrEP consistently became infected.

Use of Truvada (tenofovir/emtricitabine) pre-exposure prophylaxis, better known as PrEP, is increasing in San Francisco, but it is still only reaching about one-third of people who could benefit, and wider use could reduce new HIV infections by 70%, according to a report at the 2015 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) this week in Seattle.

Levels of the HIV entry inhibitor maraviroc (Selzentry) in vaginal and rectal tissues did not reach high enough levels with a single oral dose to confer protection against HIV in a laboratory study, researchers reported at the 2015 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) last week in Seattle. Multiple doses, however, could still potentially be effective for pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP.

A study of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), the English PROUD study, demonstrated the highest effectiveness yet seen for this method of HIV prevention, the 2015 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Seattle heard today. The effectiveness was 86%; for every 20 infections that might have occurred in participants, 17 were stopped by PrEP.